Gun Review: Arsenal Firearms Strike One

All else being equal, a lower bore axis will result in less felt recoil and less muzzle rise, as the recoil energy has less leverage over a shooter’s hands, wrists, and arms. GLOCK set the bar pretty high (errr, low?) in that area, but that didn’t stop companies like Steyr and Caracal from designing polymer-framed, striker-fired pistols with even less height and mass above the shooter’s hands. If we’re keeping score, though, it’s now the Strike One from Arsenal Firearms that’s king of the lowest hill. Great in theory and on paper, but what does this all mean from the driver’s seat? . . .

To be clear, this isn’t Arsenal, Inc., AK aficionados, but Arsenal Firearms out of Italy, makers of the somewhat-infamous, double-barreled 2011 with which our own JWT wasn’t entirely enthralled. A pretty big departure from the 1911 regardless of how many barrels it has, the Strike One is all modern in design, materials, capacity, and speed, and I’ve been champing at the bit to get my hands on one for years now. It’s a full-sized pistol that’s great for target shooting and competition, but the trigger may make it unsuitable for defensive use.

The Parts

In the locking box — one of the latches actually locks and a key is included — the Strike One comes with a collection of goodies: two, 17-round magazines (Mec-Gar manufactured), a bottle of archoil CLP, a nice cleaning kit that fits inside its own handle, and a replacement magazine release.

Installed in the pistol is a mag release of traditional fashion; it protrudes from one side but is flush on the other. This control is ambidextrous in that it can be removed and reinstalled for activation from the opposite side, but it’s an either/or proposition. The replacement mag release protrudes from both sides and operates from both sides, making it truly ambi. Slick.

So, we’re well-covered for releasing the drop-free magazines, but how about inserting a fresh one?

Well holy cow. Now that’s a magwell! Attention every other manufacturer of polymer-framed pistols: ^^^ inspiration.

On the downside, one reason that magwell is so large is that the magazines themselves are “staggered” but not actually, truly double-stacked. This is why, despite the long length of the grip, the Strike One “only” holds 17 rounds whereas a similarly-sized, yet double-stacked pistol like the CZ P-09 or XD(M) Competition packs 19 in its mags.

Everything about the frame is very ergonomic, from the grip angle to the curvature to the texture, and I think its circumference will work well for the vast majority of shooters.

Although that little support or reinforcing brace in the beavertail looks like it might not be comfortable, it absolutely is.

As you can see in the photos above and below, the rear sight is actually built into the slide plate and is not adjustable for windage or elevation. On the plus side, it certainly maximizes the very long sight radius.

The front sight is dovetailed, making it adjustable for windage.

From behind, there’s plenty of light around the front sight blade to aid in quick acquisition. As has become fairly standard, the end of the striker is visible in a witness hole in the slide plate, but only when it’s cocked.

That’s all well and good, but the Strike One stakes its biggest bragging rights on that ultra-low bore axis. So how does it stack up?

It’s hard for me to accurately measure this sort of thing, and some of it is going to vary from person to person based on where one’s hand naturally ends up on a given firearm. But it’s definitely fair to say that the Strike One allows for an incredibly high grip and has an incredibly low bore axis. Lowest ever in a semi-auto pistol? Maybe, but considering I just happen to have two other pistols here that are solid competition for the title, if the Strike One wins it isn’t by a huge margin.

A few design features allow for the Strike One’s low profile:

The striker release (or sear, or whatever you’d call it) is incredibly flat because it moves horizontally instead of vertically, which is how the similar part operates in 99% of striker-fired pistols:

The slide rails are particularly thin and uniquely low to the frame. I also love how long they are — almost full-length — whereas most polymer-framed pistols have only a small rail nub at each corner. The barrel is also extremely low in the frame, which allows for that low slide profile but also aligns rounds for a straight shot into the chamber.

Of course, there’s a little trick to getting that barrel to sit so low; the Strike One doesn’t employ a Browning-style, tilt-barrel locking mechanism. Rather, the barrel moves straight forwards and rearwards without any up or down motion at all.

A very well-machined locking block keeps the barrel locked to the slide until it’s pulled down sufficiently by the captive takedown pin, effecting a recoil action delay.

In fact, the fit, finish, and machining on everything is entirely top notch, as is the molding of the polymer frame.

Trigger

Seems like most of the big players jumped on GLOCK’s trigger shoe safety blade design, but Arsenal went another route. The entire trigger shoe makes a bit of a pirouette, pivoting on a pin and clearing a catch. The trigger is nice and wide. It’s comfortable on the finger and looks and feels like a real target trigger.

Now, I must mention that this is the second time this pistol has been in my hands. I sent it back to Arsenal Firearm’s U.S. importer and distributor, IFC, to have them do a little ‘smithing. IFC applied its competition trigger job as, basically, the standard Strike One trigger was a pain in my bum. Resetting it required letting it all the way out, but there was no perceptible reset click or sound to it when it reset. Worse, the last portion of the trigger pull had such low return spring tension on it that the sudden drop in pressure on my finger led me to believe it had reached the end of its travel before it actually had.

The result was short-stroking the trigger — pulling on it for another shot before it had reset. It happened during rapid fire and it even happened during slow, precise fire from a rest. The break was good, but the overall travel length was a bit on the long side, I felt that the pull weight was maybe a little on the low side, and that complete and total lack of any sort of tactile reset was the deal breaker.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and the pistol is back here with IFC’s competition trigger job. And the reset is much improved! Not only does it reset quite a bit sooner than before — prior to releasing the trigger safety portion of the pull — but it can actually be felt through the trigger and makes an audible “click.” I still think the return spring is a bit light, but this is now a good, relatively clean, fast trigger.

Only it’s a bit light. Like, a 2.5 lbs. pull weight light. I’m cool with this for target shooting and competition use, etc., but in my opinion it’s just way too light for any sort of defensive or duty use, especially on a firearm with no safety.

Thanks to the entirely amazing Dvorak TriggerScan unit that’s here for testing — and if I can afford it ($$$) I’m going to buy it — I’m able to show you exactly what the trigger pull looks and feels like:

As you can see, the pivoting safety feature accounts for about 40% of the trigger’s total travel. Yes, the break does feel a little bit weird. Normally a trigger breaks right near its moment of peak pull force, but this trigger actually gets lighter, then heavier ahead of its break. That travel distance is very short though so it’s barely detectable by somebody with sensitive, blogger fingers while pulling the trigger very slowly. The TriggerScan, though, sees all.

Thanks to the competition trigger job, the shooter can ride the reset and doesn’t have to repeat all of that trigger safety take-up on subsequent shots. Telling the TriggerScan to start right at the reset point results in a ‘subsequent shot’ pull that looks like this:

On The Range

It’s a shooter, folks. The Strike One is well-balanced, it’s comfortable in the hand and points naturally, the controls are well-designed and in the right places, it stays flat while shooting and has mild felt recoil, and the long sight radius leads to solid real-life accuracy like what Joe Grine and I experienced from the 5″ Walther PPQ. Yeah, I’ll take that PPQ’s trigger over the Strike One’s trigger all day every day and, as it typically ships without the competition upgrade, twice on Sundays…and all of the other days, too.

Don’t let my nitpicking sound too serious, though. In the grand scheme, the factory trigger really only falls flat on the reset — the pull is decently smooth and the break is crisp — and for me the light pull weight already relegated it to “fun” use anyway. Other than the Strike One’s somewhat lofty MSRP, that missing reset is simply the only gripe I can come up with, and it was fixed quite well by the optional trigger job.

Overall, it’s a truly excellent pistol and just about anybody would shoot it adroitly.

Accuracy

Accuracy from a sandbag rest wasn’t as good as I expected considering how well I shot it on the range. To take my sight alignment fudge factor out of the equation I shot a group with a rail-mounted laser and turned in a basically identical result. In the case of this Strike One, this is what it’s capable of at 15 yards with these ammo brands (average of all the 5-shot groups is about 1.75″).

Conclusions

If the MSRP is any indication, Arsenal is quite proud of the Strike One. Truth be told, it should be. This pistol absolutely nails it in every way other than my whining about a less-than-perfect trigger. From aesthetics to materials and machining quality to ergos to how it feels while firing, I’m a fan.

It’s good enough out of the box to replace my heavily-worked competition pistol…except the trigger’s just not quite there.

Accuracy: * * * 1/2
Mechanical accuracy is good. About average for a 5″ barrel pistol. The PPQ 5″ turned in tighter groups as did the smaller HK VP9. On the range, though, the Strike One easily holds its own with its long sight radius and minimal, consistent muzzle flip.

Ergonomics: * * * * *
Grip shape, size, texture are great and the controls are just right.

Reliability: * * * * *
It was 100% for me including a couple brands of hollow point and ammo spanning the entire 9mm weight spectrum from 50 grain (Liberty) to 147 grain. The quality of the metallurgy, machining, and polymer frame give me warm fuzzies and the exceptionally shallow feed angle from magazine to chamber leave me thinking it’ll eat anything you feed it.

Trigger: * * * factory, * * * * competition
Either way it’s a decent target trigger with a light pull weight and a much cleaner than average break. The competition trigger gets bumped up a star for having a reset that’s shorter and — even more importantly — can actually be felt and heard.

Customization: * * *
As it’s new to the market, options are very limited. There are a handful of holsters and maybe one other front sight available, but other than that I think you’re stuck with it how it is. No swappable grip panels, either. However, it’s a pretty solid gun just how it is.

Overall: * * * *
If the competition trigger job came with the same benefits, but had a pull weight in the 4 to 5 lb. range, I’d be willing to go five stars on the Strike One. As much as I enjoy the very light ~2.5 lb. pull weight, I can’t help but feel it’s toeing the line of being unsafe for a safety-less pistol. At best, that relegates it to play use. Because of the high quality and how excellent the Strike One is in every other category, it’s getting four stars despite that somewhat nonplussing MSRP.

comments

Great review as always. Long awaited. Thanks man. I have only one question —

If you could choose only one handgun…

In one hand was a CZP09 (in FDE with tritium) tricked out with a CajunGunWorks Pro grade trigger/hammer kit – and in the other hand was the Strike one with the Competition trigger job — which one would you choose?

Note: the Cajun P09 would still be cheaper, but that not withstanding… Which would you choose?

OK I rescind 🙂 It was kind of an a$$hole question for a review. It only mattered what my personal decision was and I haven’t regretted it. I think these two pistols compare the closest (albeit one is striker and one is hammer)….

Well…just by the fact that one has a hammer and (at least without modification) is DA/SA puts these pistols into different groups where most people are going to have strong preferences totally irrespective of the make or model. For those who hate DA/SA, obviously the P-09 can be run w/ manual safety and the DA can be nothing but a backup. Alternatively, you can convert a CZ to an extremely good single action only system and then it’s closer to apples-to-apples with most striker guns like the Strike One. I’d happily run the Strike One if a company like Apex or whatever else did an aftermarket trigger system that didn’t do the rocking, rolling trigger safety and also brought the weight up a bit. But, yeah, at that point you’re in it $830 for the gun plus trigger work (well, plenty of other people are going to love this 2.5 lb trigger; it’s just not my thing and the feel of the mechanics of it is fine but not my favorite). A P-09 is, what, like $475? I haven’t shot a P-09 for a long time but definitely rocked and rolled with it. Probably not better than the Strike One after I got familiar with it, though. The guns I own and use don’t show a preference for hammer or striker, but the more and more firearms I shoot the more important the trigger pull is to me and it isn’t always an objective good or bad but can simply be personal preference. In the case of the Strike One here I actually think the trigger would be “fixed” for my preference in feel, precision, return strength (it’s slow/weak on return), and pull weight with just a stronger trigger return spring.

All good points. Not apples to apples. Yeah, IMO the hammer-fired (polymer) CZ affords more options and allows for a certain measure of safety that a 2.5 lb trigger with no safety does not. When I got the CGW P09 ($700), I was comparing to the Strike One (which wasn’t available yet) mostly because of size/bore axis/etc and for the same use cases. I’m also not set on either striker-fired or hammer-fired, and am also picky on the trigger. Ultimately I should know enough by now that I can’t really judge a gun until I’ve personally put it through it’s paces, so I should reserve judgement. Maybe some day I’ll get a chance to try one of these out. (But my guess is that it won’t already have the Comp trigger and I’d be instantly disappointed). Maybe, as you say, as the aftermarket options increase for this pistol it will become more viable/popular. Only time will tell….. Anyway, good review as always. Thanks, Mr S.

The Strike One’s bore axis is way lower than on a CZ. Mass is probably not as different as you’d think. With barrels and recoil springs removed from the slides, the Strike One slide is 358 grams and my SP-01’s slide is 345 grams. That’s just less than a half of an ounce of difference. With the barrels and other parts back in the slide, the Strike One picks up a bit more weight thanks to the locking system on its barrel (that mass only moves rearwards a few mm though) and the steel guide rod whereas the SP-01’s is plastic (and guide rod mass actually inhibits muzzle rise since it’s weight out over the muzzle that doesn’t reciprocate at all). Strike One complete slide is 507 grams and SP-01 complete slide is 460 grams. That’s still only ~1.6 ounces of difference.

…oh and there’s a Strike One “Speed” coming out at some point, which has a slightly lighter slide than the normal version thanks to some milling cuts to reduce weight.

The competition trigger with a pull of 4 or 5 pounds would be ideal for carry. Could this be accomplished with a stronger spring? Arsenal’s web site claims it can only be pulled by the shooter’s finger and not by a foreign object. This is my objection to most striker-fired pistols and I wonder how effective Arsenal’s design really is.

The web site says you can change the rear sight by replacing the back plate. Supposedly, both fixed and adjustable sights are available.

Compared to my Gold Cup, the Strike One is about the same length but fatter and taller. A compact version with the same dimensions as a Glock 19 would be great for concealed carry.

It’s possible that a stronger trigger spring could accomplish the trick and I think it would, but I can’t be positive and I have no idea if there are any springs available that would fit and work in this trigger system.

Adjustable sights are definitely coming. The Strike One Speed has a fully adjustable rear and a fiber optic front, and it’ll be available in the U.S. pretty soon, apparently.

None of the trigger safeties on the market are capable of functioning with a finger but nothing else. If the Strike One’s trigger is pulled rearwards by something contacting the top like 1/3 of the trigger shoe, it won’t move. Anything pulling on the trigger lower than that and it will clear the safety just fine and it’ll fire. This is really no different from any other one out there, whether it’s a safety blade like a Glock or a pivoting part like an M&P, etc. Plenty of police officers and others have fired their Glocks during holstering thanks to a piece of clothing or other object getting into the trigger guard. IMHO none of these “safeties” can be trusted to provide any meaningful safety factor and anything that touches the trigger is fully capable of firing the gun. The grip safety on an XD is probably significantly more meaningful, especially if you take to holstering without depressing it. At any rate, on all of these striker guns I’d rather a traditional trigger shoe with no safety thing that adds pre-travel and/or discomfort and either a manual (thumb) safety or passive (grip) safety if anything. And for anyone thinking “well you can’t have no safety!” in my opinion the trigger shoe safety is just placebo anyway. We see them fail to prevent unintentional discharges all the dang time.

Placebo is exactly right. I’ve never understood the point of these silly kinds of “safeties” that are disengaged by … pulling the trigger. That’s not a safety, it’s just some extra crap you tacked on that mucks up the trigger feel while providing extremely minimal additional protection against accidental trigger pulls. As you say, if a finger can pull the trigger in such a way as to fire it, then so can any number of other objects.

If you don’t want a safety, don’t have one. With proper discipline and a good holster, that can be just as safe as a mechanical safety. But let’s not pretend these trigger gimmicks are the same thing as a real safety mechanism that actually prevents the gun from firing even if the trigger is pulled.

I’d always thought of the trigger “safety shoes” as a kind of drop-safe-inator thing, rather than a “keep the idiot from firing it” thing, for just the reason you mention: if it fits between the trigger and the guard, it can fire the gun.

“All else being equal, a lower bore axis will result in less felt recoil and less muzzle rise, as the recoil energy has less leverage over a shooter’s hands, wrists, and arms.”

True. But whether that is always and necessarily a “good thing”, is not settled. Nor likely settleable, since different shooters vary. The recoil energy goes somewhere, pushing the gun/shooter in some direction. If that somewhere is less predictable and repeatable than a straight up, and subsequently down, muzzle rise and fall, the end result might not be a universal improvement.

Turns out your instincts were dead-on and these magazines are nearly identical to CZ 75 mags. My SP-01 mags (both factory and Mec-Gar branded) fit and function in the Strike One perfectly and the Strike One mag fits in the SP-01. All combos lock the slide back and lock into the frame fine, etc. Slight difference in the ridge in the follower but it should not affect function in any way at all. The Mec-Car CZ 75 mags (in 17- and 19-round capacity) with the blue, ‘anti-friction’ follower are absolutely excellent magazines, so it looks like this would be a great option for Strike One owners. Nice call 🙂

In that case, this pistol would compliment my CZ75 SP01 and P01 quite nicely. However, I like my CZs so much I really have no need for another pistol at this point. Thanks for the quick reply and detailed review.

This is one of the first reviews that actually kept me engaged the whole time. That said, it’s not winning any beauty contests. But I like me some mag compatibility especially CZ mags. I’m curious to see how the market reacts to the price.

Though seeming the most outstanding design of last a few decades, this pistol includes some questionable, uncertain points;

– Locking system looks a shrinked P38 using a separate vertically sliding lock piece instead of original’s hinged. All troubles seen in the Walther Lockwork seem also present in this combination and with the amount of products given up to that time, this pistol is only at the starting stage. Machining tolerances seem more precise and quick manufacturing methods like MIM process may not response the needed durability in a long time period.

– Trigger works SA only and without a Drop Safety surviving the cocked mode after taking an outside accidental impact. Attached sear/trigger bar connection photos clearly show this lack. Sear seems free to act to the striker releasing direction and there is no clue about presentatioon such an approach at underside like forwardly movement of sear by push of striker spring or another sufficient safety creep for trigger bar to eliminate such a blocking, or another clue for setting the connection on each cocking action. This should be an important negative point for a service pistol. Striker blocks are not Drop safeties since they can not retain the cocked mode after an impact. Glocks, Steyrs and Caracals are more dependable than this pistol.

– Tilted barrel locks work only within a few more vertical milimeters than solely backward working or fixed barrel samples. Their effects in low barrel axis is minimal. But they provide more economical manufacturing and more durable and dependable working during the usage. It seems searching for another lock up than tilted barrel is time waste. This is the Gun Industry Natural Selection.

– All products survive by the aid of their dependability, durability and ease of manufacturing if aimed at a large users group. This pistol’s features seem not fitting into this frame.

I can’t address (or understand, frankly) all of that, but should mention that the Strike One has both a striker block — the striker is physically blocked from moving forwards unless the trigger is at the rear point of its travel — and a drop safety in the form of a trigger pull safety that requires the trigger to be pulled on the lower ~half of the shoe in order to pivot in a particular way and clear a notch at the top. It’s the same idea as Glock’s trigger safety blade but a little more like the M&P in function. At any rate, while I think these trigger safeties are generally silly they are usually effective drop safeties and the Strike One’s system works for that.

My impression of the locking mechanism, materials used, hard chrome and nitride finishes, machining, etc, is that it’s all highly robust. This is the kind of stuff Arsenal mentions in the product specs:

A full 5 inches cold-hammered barrel, along with a 75 Hrc surface Nitrite treatment for barrel, locking block, slide and operating pin industrial production standard, warrant safe and flawless use of the pistol in excess of 50,000 rounds. The frame of the Strike One was also engineered with exacting and unprecedented standards: the operating frame block, again made of the best 42CrMo4 steel, features long rails for total axial and torque control of all the moving parts, pins and springs.

– Does Striker One’s Sear has a blockage in the path of sideward releasing direction?.

– Appearently, no.

– What Would happen if Striker One’s Sear in cocked mode to get a strong sideward impact?.

– Sear would go off from the engagement of striker leg. The mass of sear seems sufficient to achieve this.

– Would the trigger needed to activate?.

– No.

– To which distance the striker would go?.

– To the point where striker block to stop its forwarding.

– And what would happen if the pistol would go on getting impacts, say; Falling through a downward stepped
location?.

– The striker would eventually go off from the engagement of stiker block safety through a vertical impact and
its tip violently strike into the primer giving a unexpected discharge. Or, would it be caught by the second step
of block safety… This would be a matter of balance of safety and striker power springs. And remember; spirings
under inertia are effective initially only with their masses.

– Should such a safety system be accepted as “Dependable”?.

– According to my humble opinion; No…

– Are there other systems preventing such happenings?.

– Of course…They have blockages in the path of sear release direction and, trigger action first releases the
sear away from blockage and continued drive will release the sear engagement. They keep the guns cocked,
or partially cocked safely all the times when a true intentional trigger release occurs.

I mean, all of this is pure conjecture and would apply to many or pretty much all other pistols as well. If all of what you think would happen to the Strike One when suffering an impact in one specific direction followed by one or more impacts in another specific direction were actually true, you’re still probably much more likely to get hit by lightning and bitten by a shark in the same week than to get this scenario to happen even if you’re trying to do it on purpose.

Oh gee, another wannabe Glock, without any of Glocks provenance. How long before this Glock wannabe goes the way of the vaunted (by TTAG) Caracal C and Taurus PT 640? (Its new, unproven, and made by 3rd worlders so it must be a most awesome tactical assault combat weapon extraordinaire)

Italy is not the 3rd world. The owner of Arsenal Firearms is Italian, the company is Italian, and the gun is manufactured in Italy (I believe they use space in Tanfoglio’s buildings). The design itself was a collab between the engineer owner of Arsenal Firearms and a Russian engineer (link to history). So, yes, there is that amount of Russian connection to the gun. Not that Russia is a 3rd world country either! But people hear “Arsenal” and think of the AK company, which is why the review kicked off by making it clear that Arsenal Inc and Arsenal Firearms are completely and totally different companies.

Yes, but that’s a little weird to do on a decocker model. Makes a lot more sense to convert to SAO on any model that can run a manual safety. That said, I’d recommend David at Cajun Gun Works for any CZ work, or the guys at CZ Custom always do a good job, of course. It’s actually just a matter of removing a single part, but to take advantage of the conversion to SAO you really need an adjustable trigger in there as well so you can tune out all of the pre-travel.

1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
4. Always be aware of your target and what’s beyond it.

This looks interesting. I only have two pistols, a Kimber Super Carry Pro HD, which I have had for only a month, and a HK P7M8 that I’ve been carrying for 15 years. I’m still getting used to the carry style of the Kimber, the P7 has never let me down. Although the height is like the P7, I would imagine the balance of the Strike One (just by looking at it) wouldn’t have that “falling out of the holster feel that the HK has that you have to get used to. I would like to learn how reliable it is, my P7 has never had a failure to feed or eject (I have only used factory FMJ or HP like Hydra Shoks though). Still, looks like an interesting pistol. Now if my local range had one to play with….

Great review. I have a Strike One and I’m having issues with it feeding JHP reliably. In your review you mentioned that you ran some that were fine. You wouldn’t happen to recall what brands they were? Thanks for any info.

Good review, it is much appreciated. My experience has been a bit different in one way. Reliability has been poor. Notwithstanding the “breakin” period, the pistol failed to eject on several magazines. The extractions at times completely failed while other times the empty case was left caught between the slide and barrel. Other times the result was a double feed with one empty shell. I sent the pistol back and when it was returned I could see a refitting of the ejector and a polishing of the trigger and it appeared that at least one shot had been taken with the pistol. I have yet to go to the range, but when I do I will report back here. My opinion of the pistol is positive. I like the trigger, the low axis, polymer frame and high capacity. The slide lock is very interesting and I like the design. My complaint is the execution of production. You can not break into a pistol market dominated by Glock, S&W, F&NH and others and expect to succeed if your product does not meet and exceed the quality of those leaders. I understand that the Italian manufacture is no longer selling the Strike 1 and that a US company is making it with some modifications and a different nomenclature. I think my pistol will have more value now, but only time will tell.